Diversifying Your Investment Portfolio: Best Tips for 2022

By: Sophia Young

 

It’s no secret that the past two years have been difficult for investors. With the pandemic raging across the globe, many traditional markets have suffered, and many people with plans to build wealth have been forced to re-evaluate their investment strategies on the fly.
Spreading your investment portfolio across different asset classes can minimize your risk and build wealth over the long term. So, what are the best ways to diversify your investment portfolio in 2022?

 

Why diversify?

We all know the adage of never putting all your eggs into one basket. And when it comes to investing, diversification is key to building a strong investment portfolio that can weather any storm.
There are two main reasons to diversify:
To minimize risk – By spreading your investments across different asset classes, you can minimize your overall risk, since events that impact one class might not impact another. For example, while stocks might be struggling, bonds might be doing well. By investing in both, you can smooth out the ups and downs of the market and minimize your risk.
To maximize returns – While diversification won’t guarantee that you’ll make money, it will give you a better chance to earn higher returns over the long term. This is because you’ll be able to take advantage of different market conditions and invest in areas that are doing well.
As with nearly all strategies, the best approach can vary from case to case. Think about these things first before deciding how to best diversify your investment portfolio:
Start with your goals – The first step is to have a clear idea of your investment goals. Are you looking to grow your wealth? Save for retirement? Or both? Once you know your goals, you can start to think about the best way to achieve them.
Consider your time horizon – Your time horizon is the amount of time you have to invest. This will play a big role in how you diversify your portfolio. Those with longer time horizons can afford to take more risks, as they have time to recover from any short-term losses.
Think about your risk tolerance – Risk tolerance is the amount of risk you’re willing to take on. This is a personal decision that only you can make, based on various factors, such as your long-term plans, financial health, or temperament.
Once you have a clear idea of your goals, time horizon, and risk tolerance, you can start to think about the best way to diversify your portfolio.

 

Tips on diversifying your portfolio

Diversifying your investment portfolio requires you to pick an asset allocation model that dovetails with your personal goals, time horizon, and risk tolerance. Choosing one doesn’t commit you to that strategy in perpetuity. You can take parts from all four models and use them to create a hybrid strategy that’s tailored just for you.

 

Looking for a steady income?

First, you’ll want to consider a mix of assets that offer both stability and growth potential. While you don’t want to risk too much, you also don’t want to miss out on small opportunities to capitalize on market growth.
Second, it’s important to remember that even the best asset allocation model will involve some degree of risk. If you’re on a tight budget, we suggest using a financial plan as well as expense management tool to help you keep track of your spending.
Prime examples of assets for this type of portfolio include:
Municipal or corporate bonds
US Treasury securities
Well-performing, dividend-paying stocks.

 

Need some income but also want to grow your wealth?

For your needs, a similar model as above can be followed with some adjustments. The biggest difference is that you’ll want to put a greater emphasis on growth-oriented investments.
Your income will generally come from dividends from equity investments in stocks, as well as from interest payments on bonds. You may also reinvest dividends to purchase additional shares, which can result in compound growth over time.
Growth investments typically come with more risk than income investments, but they also offer the potential for higher returns.

 

Want to expand your wealth?

Just like the model above, an asset allocation model geared toward wealth growth will favor investments that have the potential to generate high returns.
It’s still possible to hold a few dividend income stocks in this model, but the vast majority of assets should be on companies with massive potential upside—these companies typically have no plans of paying out regular dividends to shareholders.

Want to expand your wealth as fast as possible?

An all-out approach to building wealth requires counting on high-return/high-risk equities and forgoing any income today in favor of huge growth opportunities in the future.
This portfolio would likely be made up mostly of small-cap stocks, penny stocks, and other high-growth/high-risk investments. The idea is to find a few companies that have the potential to explode in value and ride them to the top. Of course, this approach comes with a high degree of risk—you could easily lose everything you invest.

Here are a few examples of high-risk/high-reward investments:
Upstart companies – Companies who burst into the scene with a new product or service
High-growth small-cap stocks – Small companies with high potential for rapid growth
Options and futures contracts – Derivative instruments that can be used to speculate on the movement of underlying assets.


Diversifying your investment portfolio is one of the smartest things you can do to protect and grow your wealth. By allocating your assets among different asset classes, you can minimize your overall risk while still allowing yourself to achieve strong returns. Whether you want to grow your wealth slowly and steadily or go for broke with high-risk/high-reward investments, there’s a way to diversify your portfolio that’s right for you!

Networking: Building your business connections

Three business people talking to each other

By: Landon Mitchell

What is networking?

Networking is the exchange of information and ideas among people with a common profession or interest, usually in an informal social setting, and it is essential in business. Learning to find, engage, and close investors are tools every entrepreneur needs. These skills are useful for more than just finding investors. They’re a primary driver of getting sales, referrals, and other means of packing your pipeline with good leads! They are also used to find job applicants and in market research to get you in front of difficult-to-reach people that could help you learn and understand a specific field, as well as important policy and decision-makers.

When you start networking, you (obviously) have to make connections to get to where you want to be. So you go to networking events, call personal assistants, get on people’s calendars, meet them, and become friends to build that network and relationship. Though, the problem is that these people don’t have time or, honestly, a reason to care about you. The assistants in charge of their calendars act as gatekeepers. These people don’t need friends. So, instead of trying to navigate straightway to your end goal, you start with people you already know and trust to build your network. You have those people you know introduce you to people they know that might be closer to your end goal, and so forth. Pretty quickly, you’ll reach your goal.

How should I network?

The best place to start is with the people closest to you! And it’s your job to make it as easy as possible for them to help you. I want you to try a mental exercise in your head. Make a list of each of these different things:

  1. What’s a good restaurant in your state?
  2. What’s a good restaurant around you?
  3. What’s a good Mexican restaurant where you live?
  4. What’s a fast-casual restaurant appropriate for business lunches within a five-minute drive of your place of work?

With every question, your choices were more and more constrained, and because of this, they likely generated more and more options in your mind. The same applies when making business connections. When you say, “I’m looking to talk to anybody,” chances are you’re not going to because people don’t know everyone; they know someone. And until you can help people recognize the someone you’re trying to get to, it becomes difficult for them to know who to refer you to. The more specific you make your goal, the better. For example, let’s say you’re looking for someone who does billing in a pediatric office for a hospital system. While not very many people would know someone that does billing in a pediatric office, they might be able to put you in contact with a doctor, which is still a significant step towards your goal.

Meeting people

When you’re just meeting someone off a referral, you want to go from knowing nothing about each other to getting time from them. Here’s an outline you can use when meeting someone for the first time:

  1. You don’t know me, but our mutual associate [name] recommended you highly.
  2. I am trying to [specific goal], and [name] said you are the best person they know for this.
  3. Is there a time I can sit down with you for fifteen minutes to discuss this? (preferably in person)

Remember this: you never want to throw a sales pitch or anything like it. You want to try to build a relationship with them. You want to make sure they know you’re genuinely interested in them and that you aren’t just using them as a tool to get to where you want to be. People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. The more effort you put into a relationship with a person, the likelihood they help you increases. If you ever wonder if you’re being overbearing, just ask them! You want to show them that you’re respectful of their time.

And here’s an outline for that 15-minute meeting:

  1. I appreciate this so much. You came so highly recommended by [name]. How do you know them? 
  2. [Review ultimate goal] What experience have you had with this?
  3. Who would you want to talk to if you were in my position? [get three people, ask for an introduction]
  4. Do you think anyone would be interested in [ultimate goal]? How would you recommend I proceed? [solicit follow-up]

Once again, the more effort you put into the relationship you’re trying to create, the more likely they are to help. It’s always a good idea to ask for advice when in contact with someone that is in a position to help you! Remember this: If you ask for money, you’re more likely to get advice, and if you ask for advice, you’re more likely to get money. 

And there you have it! Connections are valuable and imperative to business, and this process helps shorten the path you take towards creating them. To learn more about networking, you can watch the full workshop.

Video Marketing and Its Discontents

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Video Marketing and Its Discontents
Did you know YouTube was the most visited website in 2020? Or that Google’s algorithm favors websites with video? Reality check—you need video marketing. While traditional video can be expensive, the good news is there are ways to make great video content on a budget by hiring a freelance videographer.

Continue reading

Savology Reports on the State of Personal Finance for 2020

News provided by Savology

OREM, Utah — Savology, a digital financial wellness platform helping American households improve their financial outcomes by providing accessible financial planning, publishes a comprehensive state of household personal finances report.

Savology examined anonymized data from approximately 40,000 financial plans created across all 50 states and Washington D.C. in 2020 to create a holistic report that covers all personal finance areas including savings, income, debt, spending, insurance, estate planning, risk management, and retirement outlook.

Savology's The State of Personal Finance 2020 examines the complete spectrum of personal finances across households in the United States.
Savology’s The State of Personal Finance 2020 examines the complete spectrum of personal finances across households in the United States.

“Our goal was to measure and understand the complete spectrum of personal finances”, says Savology founder and CEO, Spencer Barclay. “The information in this report can help us identify the gaps and needs of American households so that we [and others] can more effectively address the problems at hand.”

While the average reported savings rates were higher than anticipated at 13.8%, retirement still remains out of reach for the majority of households with 72% not on track to meet their retirement goals. This means that only 1 in every 4 households (28%) are on track to reach their goals.

Additional key findings, among many others, include the following:

  • While households are saving a noticeably higher amount than previous years, the average savings rate deficit is still 9.1%.
  • Only 36.7% of households have all of the recommended types of insurance needed to mitigate risk based on their specific familial needs.
  • Households with dependents are not adequately covered by life insurance. Nearly 50% do not have any, and many of those that do have a significant gap.
  • Estate planning is one area of financial planning that seems to be significantly neglected, with only 23% having at least a basic will and 2.4% having a complete estate plan.
  • The average retirement shortfall is more than 10 years, meaning that Americans will either have to delay retirement or adjust their target lifestyle and retirement goals.

While these numbers do show cause for concern, Savology believes through accessible and effective financial planning, households will be able to better understand financial situations and make meaningful improvements.

“As someone who has repeatedly witnessed the impact of not having access to proper financial planning and overall literacy, I can say with confidence that we’re helping households improve their overall well-being and quality of life,” says Savology’s Director of Marketing, Kristian Borghesan. “Having now seen the numbers and the data, we know all too well that we have our work cut out for us to better the financial lives of millions.”

For more information about the report and to view the major findings across all financial areas visit The State of Personal Finance 2020.

For media inquiries, please contact Bri Ray, Communications Specialist, at 801-472-2124 or 288514@email4pr.com.    

About Savology:

Savology is a venture-backed startup that is on a mission to improve the financial well-being of millions of American households by making financial planning more accessible, actionable, and effective than ever before. In just 5 minutes, users can build a personalized financial plan, holistic report card, and personalized action items. In addition to their consumer-facing product, Savology works closely with employers to offer employees financial planning and wellness benefits. Savology, based in the Silicon Slopes of Utah, was founded by serial entrepreneur Spencer Barclay in early 2019.

How to Give the Winning Pitch

Written By: A.J. Rounds

As a member of the founding team at RevRoad, I’ve reviewed hundreds of pitches and learned a few things that may be helpful for you as an entrepreneur. 

Bring Your A Game

When you pitch your company to venture capitalists, investors, or other partners, bring your A game. I’m not just talking about the 10/20/30 rule coined by Guy Kawasaki (although, also extremely helpful). I’m referring to answering crucial questions in your presentation.

Pitching is an art, and there are few who do it well. Out of the entrepreneurs I’ve seen pitch, about 25% present extremely well, while 20% pitch on an average level and give the basics. The remaining 55% need to read this article. 

My goal in writing this is to help you secure the resources and partnerships (in some cases Venture Services) you need to succeed. 

What should you include in your pitch?

Let’s dive in. 

Know your customer

Before you begin building your pitch, answer the following questions.

  • Do you know your audience? 
  • Have you identified your target market by needs, demographics, geography, and ability to pay?

If not, that’s step 1. It is also helpful to understand what their experience level is when it comes to using your product or service. What do they currently say about your company?

Now you are ready to begin constructing your pitch.  

Problem/Solution

Can you explain what you do or offer in one sentence? If not, please practice.

Frame it in terms of the problem your target market has and how you solve it. 

Additionally, ask yourself if your market is big enough. Is your solution good enough? Putting your audience through a long, tedious exercise of trying to understand what your company does, the problem you solve, and how you are different from other options in the market will not help you.

Make it quick, easy, and obvious.

Revenue Model, Projections, Timeline, & Financial Outlook

Remember, often you are pitching to an audience that is financially minded. Be sure to spend time on your business model or revenue model. 

Questions you should answer include: 

  • What is your revenue model? Is the revenue recurring (preferred)? 
  • Do you have multiple streams of revenue? 
  • What is the price point of your product and corresponding profit margins?  
  • What is the lifespan of your product or service? 
  • How have you funded your business to this point? 
  • Who else is on your cap table? 
  • What does an exit look like for you and when?
  • What is your current valuation?
  • Are your financials and projections realistic? 
  • What is the timeline to revenue milestones? 

Traction 

One of the things I expect to hear about when listening to a scalable company pitch is traction achieved.

Maybe that’s a revenue number. Or, if you are pre-revenue, maybe that traction number equates to followers, an email list, or even submitted pre-orders. 

Market Size 

Closely related to traction is your market size. You should also be very familiar with this information.

Please don’t present an unrealistic TAM when pitching your business. I often hear the statement, “If I can just convert 1% of the population of China or the U.S. market, then we will have achieved our goals.” This is an instant turnoff for educated investors or partners.

Talk more about your Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM) or what portion of the market you can realistically reach.

Defensibility & Competitors

In your pitch, include how your product or service is unique and defensible. Do you have intellectual property or patents filed?

Risks are mitigated when your closest competitor can’t easily copy your value proposition—which brings me to competition.

Who are your competitors? Are they well-funded? Do they have large market share? Where might your product overlap with theirs? There are many templates available that can help you create a competitor analysis report.  

Team

Discuss your team. Who are you? Who are your teammates? Why did you get into this vertical? 

Talk about your successful exit(s) or epic failure(s). Maybe even both. This shows you’re an experienced entrepreneur that understands the roller coaster ride of entrepreneurship. If done right, talking about these items will give you credibility and show your passion for your company. 

If you have an advisory board, which is highly recommended, discuss who those individuals are and the value they bring to the table.  

It’s also helpful to mention who’s working full time in the business and who is not. This is critical. At RevRoad specifically, we seldom work with companies that don’t have at least one founder working full time in the business.

Summary and CTA

Include a concise summary and clear call to action as the last slide of your presentation and boom, you are ready to pitch!

As someone who listens to entrepreneurs pitch for a living, I recommend that you follow these guidelines. Your chances of a successful pitch will skyrocket. 

Whatever the pitch event, be it the annual Entrepreneur Competition hosted by RevRoad, a pitch to become a RevRoad portfolio company, or a community pitch competition like the Silicon Slopes Tech Summit Competition, incorporate these tips and you’ll nail your presentation.

Good luck! 

Applications to join RevRoad close on April 30, 2020.
Apply to RevRoad here
Learn more about RevRoad here

6 TikTok Tips for Business

TikTok has quickly become a dominant platform in the world of social media marketing. Gathering user-generated content, cross-pollinating content, and advertising are some of the main reasons why your company may want to utilize TikTok. 

Getting started on a new social platform can be overwhelming, so here are a few tips to help you through the process. 

  1. Be Fun & Vulnerable
    People are on TikTok for a lot of reasons, but the common denominator is to be entertained. If your content is not entertaining or interesting, then it is a waste of time. Be fun, real, and vulnerable.
  1. Keep it Short
    Videos can only be up to 60 seconds on TikTok; however, many gravitate to stay within the 15-second range.
  2. Focus on the Music
    Music is a critical piece of creating shareable, popular content on TikTok. Utilize the trending music and original sounds in your videos.
  3. Maintain Consistency
    When you consistently create content around a specific topic, you generate interest. If users find your content relevant, useful, and interesting, they start following you. Gradually, you start getting more likes, shares, and engagement..
  4. Collaborate
    Every industry has influencers. Find out who they are and make something happen. Reach out to them, duet or react to their videos, and participate in their challenges.
  5. Use Trends & Hashtags
    Check out the “Discover” tab for trends. If you see something relevant that you like, copy it. Make it your own. Expound on the creativity of others. Find trending hashtags that are relevant to your business.

Download your “TikTok Tips” sheet here. Enjoy!

Watch the free TikTok workshop here.

As Humans: a letter from our CEO, Derrin Hill

I write this in deep sadness after the events of this past week and seeing the senseless torture and killing of an unarmed black man as he lay in the street—handcuffed and pleading for his life. George Floyd, like many others, suffered the effects of racism that plague our nation. One of the three officers kneeling on him has now been charged with murder.

As the events of this week unfolded I felt it important to share our complete and united support as a leadership team and as a company for equality, fairness, and equal opportunity for all—regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, political views, or sexual orientation. 

We are grateful for each member of our team and for the respect each of us show one another. 

We fully support protesters’ rights to protest peacefully. We also support law enforcement and their efforts to enforce the law when done lawfully. 

We stand against the bad actors in any group. This includes those in law enforcement who use their position of power in unjust ways to target, harm, and kill others. It also includes protesters who riot, injure people, and destroy property. 

Thankfully, there have also been reports of healthy dialogue and constructive conversations between people and groups involved. Some of those conversations have been with the protestors and officers facing off toe to toe at our own Utah State Capital and resulted in them leaving as genuine friends.

I hope that kind of dialogue will happen at every level and result in systemic policies and structures to address the very real issues of racism which have been brought to the forefront again. I also live in hope that with each of us doing our part, we can soon live in a world where racism and its ugly cousins, bigotry, and inequity no longer have a place. 

Why write this message when any of us could just silently watch what happens?

Because each of us need to do our part as humans to add constructive solutions to the cancer of racism in our world. 

A favorite poem of mine is one I first read at the holocaust memorial in downtown Boston. It was written by Reverend Martin Niemöller: 

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

I am not African American, but I am human. George Floyd was human. And since we are all human, we should care for one another as humans. 

Thanks again to each of you for looking out for the concerns of others, for doing your part to make your family, RevRoad, Utah, the USA, and our world a place of unity and mutual respect. 

With love for each of you,

Derrin Hill

RevRoad, CEO

Where Marketers are Spending Their Money in 2020

Written By: A.J. Rounds

2020 Marketing Landscape 

We are now entering the second quarter of 2020. At the time of this writing, you and I are currently under heavy restrictions of quarantines and physical distancing for COVID-19. However, that doesn’t mean that marketing budgets disappear. In many cases, companies are ramping up their marketing spend. The following paragraphs are the top marketing objectives, budgets, and results predicted for 2020. 

Top Marketing Strategies and Objectives 

Marketing channels most implemented in 2019 and carried through 2020 continue to be email, social media advertising, and blogging/content marketing tactics as reported by Sales and Marketing Management. SEO strategies follow as a close fourth place. 

Top marketing objectives for 2020 include converting leads to customers, increasing sales leads, increasing brand awareness, producing thought leadership content, and increasing website traffic. Interestingly enough, SMM also reports that most leads are still found through referrals, trade shows, and events. The percentages are as high as 63% (referrals) and 44% (trade shows) respectively. Print advertising and direct mail are the least utilized at 3% overall. 

Marketing Dollars Spent

In support of these marketing strategies, SMM also reports that 56% of budgets are being allocated to digital marketing, 52% of budgets to website development, 36% to trade shows/events, and 27% to content/email marketing.  

RevRoad Marketing Initiatives for 2020

This data coincides with current RevRoad and portfolio company marketing strategies.  RevRoad is also ramping up our marketing spend online, building home and landing pages to convert that marketing spend, generating more content on LinkedIn, social media, and blogs, while still building person to person relationships (at a socially safe distance). RevRoad continues to invest resources into new videos produced by our amazing video team to promote online. 

As mentioned, we will be revamping our website to be more focused on you and other entrepreneurs who’d like to apply. This includes restructuring and formatting content better. Our goal certainly falls in line with converting leads into sales and increasing brand awareness. As a start, we recently launched a services page complete with videos to ‘show’ not ‘tell’ about the services we offer to scalable companies like yours. 

Summary

Without question, the largest portion of marketing budgets for 2020 will be allocated to digital strategies. Based on what SMM reports and what we’ve seen at RevRoad, the marketing channels mentioned above produce the greatest ROI. 
Good luck with your marketing efforts. Whether it’s a pandemic or other changes to the economy, don’t be afraid to adjust your marketing strategies to accommodate changing business needs. Keep going. You’ve got this!